


The Terrifying Tale Of The Lee Family Property

by 127shibes



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: AU - America, Fluff, Happy Ending, Humour, M/M, NCT Ensemble - Freeform, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, buzzfeed unsolved au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 14:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17510759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/127shibes/pseuds/127shibes
Summary: In his parent’s will, Donghyuck is set to inherit the family owned liquor store, all of his mom’s jewelry, an unknown but hopefully substantial amount of money, and as many of his dad’s souvenir salt shakers as he desires.He’s also supposed to inherit the haunted plot of land his father’s never managed to sell and that his mother has never allowed them to part with. A piece of land he’s now officially in charge of, what with his parent’s vacation and the season 5 premier of The Ghoul Guys featuring his property.But will aside, there’s a reason that land has earned the reputation it’s gotten. And like it or not, Donghyuck is going to find out.





	The Terrifying Tale Of The Lee Family Property

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chenle makes a deal on Donghyuck's half, Donghyuck begins the revenge plot of the century, and Jeno's just kind of along for the ride.

In the end, when everything is said and done, Donghyuck will begrudgingly thank Chenle for the entire ordeal. Because in the end, everything works out; supernatural murder mystery, awkward romance and all. In the end, Donghyuck’s pretty happy, and, well, Chenle’s kind of the catalyst for everything.

But right now, in the moment, Donghyuck is not happy. Not in the slightest. He is, in fact, outright _infuriated._ He’s straight up livid, just about two seconds away from killing Chenle where he stands, skinning him alive and throwing his intestines to the coyotes. Chenle, all too aware of Donghyuck’s murderous wrath, has found asylum behind the impenetrable wall that is Jeno’s large frame. He manages to completely hide himself behind Jeno’s seven mile wide shoulders, and all that Donghyuck can detect is Chenle’s faint panicked whimpering. A seemingly impossible task to overcome, but Donghyuck is armed with a pair of safety scissors and has a thirst for blood that can only be sated by one scrawny Asian-American teen.

“You’re fucking _dead.”_ Donghyuck hisses, wanting Chenle to know that his death is entirely his fault. Chenle, more than aware of this fact, wails in despair.

In front of him, Jeno frowns disapprovingly. It doesn’t have as much of an impact, because it’s like his default ‘dealing with Donghyuck’ look. He’s been using it on Donghyuck for fifteen years, ever since daycare when Donghyuck refused to share the only good yellow pencil crayon. The look didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. 

Still, Jeno persists in his attempt to shame Donghyuck into relenting, starting with a disappointed sigh of “Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck’s glare narrows to focus on him. “What.” He spits.

Jeno’s frown remains unchanged. “Relax. He didn’t mean any harm by it.”

From behind Jeno’s shoulder, Chenle pokes his head up. His green hair almost blends into Jeno’s green sweater, just slightly off by a couple of shades. “Yeah!” He shouts emphatically, desperately, like he’s bargaining for his life. Well, he is bargaining for his life, cause Donghyuck can and _will_ slaughter him, but not before he has to listen to Chenle desperately proclaiming, “You never even dated Johnny!”

Donghyuck pauses, becoming suddenly aware of a reality he hadn’t known of before. A reality that makes everything exponentially, undoubtedly, and _infinitely_ worse.

“Did you say,” Donghyuck starts, now very calm. “that Johnny Seo is involved in this whole mess?”

Chenle freezes, the blood draining from his face. “Uh.” He says wisely, trying to disappear back behind the safety of Jeno’s shoulders. 

“Oh no.” Jeno says. His expression is resigned, and he wrangles Chenle out from behind him, unwilling to become a causality in the resulting bloodbath. A wise move, because they’re all fully aware that Johnny Seo is not the kind of name you casually drop into conversation.

Donghyuck inhales deeply. Counts to ten, thinks happy thoughts. But nope, none of it work. Nothing can stop the all-consuming, unbridled _fury_ that rolls through his veins and sets his lust for blood aflame.

“Oh _no.”_ Jeno repeats, darting into the hall closet, because nothing can save them now.

Chenle, left alone in the hallway, defenceless and absolutely terrified, can only offer a nervous laugh. “Sorry?” He offers, inching backwards slowly.

But all Donghyuck sees is red.

Allegedly, Chenle’s scream of terror is heard four houses down, ringing through the air of the warm summer air.

‥

The situation is an issue for multiple reasons.

For one, Chenle never really _asked_ if he could. For years, Jeno has been trying to beat the decision-making acronym of ‘THINK’ into their heads. He said it would save them from a mugger or a serial tickler, whatever that means, but even though Donghyuck never really heeds its advice, it’s an acronym that’s easy enough to remember. 

T - Is it **true?**

H - Is it **helpful?**

I - Is it **inspiring?**

N - Is it **necessary?**

K - Is it **kind?**

And evidently, Chenle didn’t really think, or THINK before he volunteered Donghyuck’s home for an episode of the viral youtube series The Ghoul Guys.

Well, not his home. Donghyuck’s home is a two story house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It’s valued at around $150 000, and features a heated garage, a basement, and a hole in the wall from when Taeyong slammed his knee trying to sneak back inside black out drunk. Donghyuck quite likes his home, even if he’s the only one living there at the moment, what with his brother off doing university things and his parents on a mid-life crisis expedition in Dubai.

No, Chenle volunteered the Lee property. A dilapidated, unkept, rundown plot of land a couple miles outside of town. It’s three acres of unused shit that was passed down to his mother after her father died. It was one of her terms and conditions when she married Donghyuck’s dad. They met and got married in the city, but she said she wouldn’t even look at a wedding dress if he didn’t move back home with her so she could take care of the land. Donghyuck’s father has gone onto say that she used her womanly wiles to get him to agree, but despite his attempts to sell the land, he’s never managed to have a single buyer interested for more than a day or two. 

Somewhere along the way, the place has gotten a reputation for being haunted. It’s really just the natural progression of things. There’s an unused space just far enough to be questionable with some rather dubious history. People are going to form their own conclusions. There’s nothing really specific — the Lee family are murderers, the place is an ancient burial ground, whatever. Though, those conclusions are mostly motivated by the fact that Donghyuck’s mother outright shuts down anyone even interested in seeing the land. When he was six, Donghyuck had asked if he could tag along with her when she went to visit. It was the first time she had ever shouted at him, the first time she had gotten downright _angry_ with him, and it had scared him so much he never asked again.

The land is a weird family heirloom that has it’s own collective mysteries in their town. And Chenle just volunteered Donghyuck without prior consultation or consent. A little irritating. But that’s not the issue. That’s not the issue at _all._

No, the real issue is Johnny Seo. The same Johnny Seo that Donghyuck hopelessly crushed on for thirteen years. It was a crush that didn’t even end when Johnny graduated and moved away for university. No, Donghyuck’s infatuation was so great it flared up every year when Johnny would come home for Christmas, dark hair and bright smile and all. It’s only after Johnny’s parents moved to Chicago two years ago, when Donghyuck no longer ran the risk of bumping into him at the grocery store every December. Only once Donghyuck could no longer physically reach Johnny in any way other than through text, only _then_ did his crush finally dissipate. 

Donghyuck was in _love_ with Johnny for thirteen years, and for thirteen years he almost existed just to impress the other man. Every decision was a calculated tactic in attempt to get Johnny to fall in love with him. Donghyuck tried out for the volleyball team, mutilated his bangs in a DIY hair cut attempt, he even got a fucking septum piercing in sophomore year on the off chance that Johnny would call it cool in the fresh produce section of the grocery store. And sure, a couple of those decisions worked out in the end. Donghyuck got pretty good at singing when he joined the choir, he kept in shape throughout high school when he picked up track, even his septum piercing doesn’t look that bad now that he doesn’t look like a babyfaced edgelord. 

But Johnny Seo is a testament to Donghyuck’s entire embarrassing pre-pubescent train wreck of an existence, one that was ultimately futile and pointless and something that still make Donghyuck shriek and collapse whenever he happens to accidentally remember one of his stupid hormone fuelled endeavours of romance.

He learned how to _pick locks_ for Johnny. What was even the point of _that?_

Donghyuck is more than happy to let Johnny Seo be a reminder of what once was. A reminder that he should never, _ever,_ risk it all for a boy. Especially not a boy five years older than you. Donghyuck would like to let Johnny Seo be a distant memory, nothing more and nothing less.

But no. Zhong Chenle, resident shitlord supreme, ruins everything once again.

“I forgot!” Chenle whines, letting Jeno hold frozen peas his bruised knee. Donghyuck had chased him around the house for ten minutes before he finally closed in on Chenle. But right before he could go in for the kill, Chenle smacked his head on the granite counter top and collapsed to the floor, and didn’t move for at least a minute. Jeno was three seconds from googling “how to tell if my friend has died” before Chenle rolled over with a groan. Donghyuck began plotting his revenge from the moment that Chenle was confirmed not-dead.

He takes a break from scheming to level Chenle with a dead stare. “How the _fuck_ did you forget that I’ve wanted to marry Johnny from the age of like, four.” He says, as deadpan as his glare is.

Chenle, the unfortunate victim of that glare since the age of two, is entirely unbothered. “Cause Johnny Seo isn’t ‘Donghyuck’s unfortunate super hot crush’ anymore.” He explains matter-of-factly. “Johnny Seo is The Ghoul Guys’ resident nonbeliever and goofy adorable idiot.”

Donghyuck turns to Jeno, not understanding. Jeno, who has the patience of a man who’s been in an iHop for three hours, sighs. “He no longer associated Johnny with you.” He explains. “He associates Johnny with The Ghoul Guys.”

Donghyuck, now enlightened, returns to his former position of pointing a knife at Chenle. “Even so, you could’ve, y’know, _asked_ before you gave up my property for public viewing.”

Chenle pouts. “They were doing a twitter AMA and I was super early! I didn’t wanna lose my chance to have them notice me. I didn’t think they’d follow through Donghyuck, if I had known they’d actually be interested then I never would have in the first place.”

“Liar.” Donghyuck and Jeno say in tandem without missing a beat.

Chenle’s pout twists into a scowl. “Okay, yeah I would, but the deal hasn’t even gone through yet. I told them that they needed to get into contact with _you_ before anything could happen.”

Oh. There’s some of that silver lining Donghyuck has been looking for. He lowers the knife, albeit reluctantly, watching the way Chenle’s entire body sags with relief. “Did you give them my number?”

Chenle nods. “They said they’ll call like. Tonight. Sometime around six-thirty.”

Donghyuck sighs. “Good. I wanna shut this down as quickly as possible.”

“NO!” Chenle shouts, rocketing to his feet. The plastic bag of peas falls to the ground. Jeno looks at it mournfully. “Donghyuck, _please,_ you can’t say no to this—“

“Yeah? I can?” Donghyuck replies, perplexed. “It’s my property dude, and my mom would kill me if this kinda shit happened.”

“Then you can ask her to!” Chenle continues and oh, he’s _desperate,_ and not like he normally is. This isn’t the ‘senior year is tearing my soul from me’ look. There’s a genuine sense of urgency, of _need_ in his voice.

Donghyuck blinks. He doesn’t know what to do with this. “I—“ he starts, but Jeno clears his throat.

“Let’s get some food.” He says, pointedly looking at Donghyuck. There’s a beat, where his sentence just rests awkwardly in the air, before Chenle nods, stumbling to his feet.

“Yeah.” He says, kinda faintly. “Let’s.”

Donghyuck’s a little irritated, because of _course_ Jeno would diffuse the situation right when things get weird. But for the most part he’s grateful. He hasn’t seen Chenle look that… emotional in years. Not since his parents divorced.

Besides, Donghyuck’s hungry himself, and food always makes conversations like this a little easier.

So Donghyuck just sighs, stands, and slings an arm around Chenle’s shoulders. “You’re paying.” He says, only half threateningly, just so Chenle knows he’s got a bigger revenge plot in store. “For the emotional damages.”

Chenle looks up at Donghyuck and smiles. There’s still that weird nervous look in his eyes, but it’s fading ever so slightly, and Donghyuck feels relief unwind the knot in his chest with gentle hands. “As if I don’t always pay for you.” He teases.

Before Donghyuck can go for his knees, Jeno places himself beside Donghyuck, resting a hand on his lower back in warning. “You’re the rich one Lele.” He says simply, but there’s a certain weight to his words, a friendly reminder that Jeno Lee is fully capable of killing them both in two seconds flat

And Donghyuck loses himself in Chenle and Jeno’s snarky banter, walking out the door of his home and into the streets of Fishstick, Illinois.

‥

Donghyuck was never a particularly good English student. In fact, he almost failed his senior year of English, and only survived because of Crash Course, Sparknotes, and Quizlet. Despite this, he still gets the basic concept of a metaphor. And The Diner — officially titled named Dickley’s Family Diner — is the perfect metaphor for Donghyuck’s hometown of Fishstick, Illinois.

The Diner’s got a glossy paint job and a bright neon sign that can be seen from any moderately elevated point within about a hundred miles. Similarly, the one highway into Fishstick is adorned with a fancy sign that proudly proclaims **WELCOME TO FISHSTICK, ILLINOIS; NOT THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE FISHSTICK.** The Diner is also this hole in the wall kind of place; just about thirty people can fit in the eating area if none of them are overweight and if everyone stands really close together. It’s an almost perfect microcosm of the town’s thousand person population. Fishstick is so comically small there’s only one high school, and downtown only really consists of just one road. Also, both share an unfortunate name that’s almost not even funny to joke about anymore. It’s _that_ boring.

But as boring as it is, the owners are nice, the food is good, and it’s all Donghyuck’s ever really known. Fishstick is _stupidly_ small and boring — it’s the perfect archetype of a small town to the point of insanity. But honestly? Donghyuck has no qualms. 

Donghyuck’s gone back to Korea once before. And it was great, it was fun. But the city was loud and busy and frantic and the buildings were tall and dull and loomed over them like walls and the sky was grey and the air tasted like smoke—

Donghyuck’s fine with Fishstick, Illinois. It’s home.

Like always, Chenle buys Donghyuck a bacon cheeseburger combo with Sprite. He ignores Donghyuck’s request for no pickles, because he’s an asshole, and only complains a little about how he has to pay because as annoying as Chenle is, he owns up to shit pretty well. He also buys Jeno a hot dog, because Jeno has put up with them for so long, but omits the soda, because Jeno doesn’t like the way the bubbles tickle his mouth. He doesn’t buy himself anything, because Chenle eats at sporadic times like four am and he pretty much only lives on kraft dinner at this point. Senior year isn’t going so well for him.

But they get their food and sit down at their table — all the way in the back right corner so they can watch the door for anyone who comes in. And Chenle waits patiently for them to get about halfway through their meals before he decides that it’s time to talk.

“I wanted to help.” He says softly, so softly that Donghyuck has to stop shovelling fries into his mouth to hear him. “I just… I thought it would help.”

Jeno sighs — he’s always fucking sighing, if people had default noises then Jeno’s would be a long drawn out sigh — and eats one of the pickles Donghyuck put onto his plate. “How so?” He says, dully but not unkind.

Chenle shifts in place. “The places they go get attention.” He states simply. “A _lot_ of attention. They went to this Bigfoot hotspot and the local economy got such a boost and I thought… y’know…”

Oh. Oh no. Donghyuck has suddenly become aware of the situation. He’s being served the Chenle Zhong Sympathy Supreme, and he didn’t even realize it. He tenses in place. He’s already fallen victim to the injury and the bribery. But the little pity party? He’s ready for. He’s _prepared._

Well. He thinks he is. He’s moderately certain that he’s able to handle whatever Chenle dishes at him, but that’s _before_ Chenle looks up from the table, and god fucking _damn it._

“I’m sorry…” Chenle whimpers, puppy dog eyes and pouty lips and all, and it’s a critical hit. Donghyuck has fallen. Chenle has triumphed again due to the sheer power of being cute.

Donghyuck closes his eyes, simmers in his own weakness a little. Chenle’s not wrong. Donghyuck knows first-hand just how impactful The Ghoul Guys are. They’re charismatic and charming, left-leaning and attractive and also _gay,_ with a vocal and loyal fanbase Donghyuck could never fuck with. Donghyuck, a small gaming youtuber with just under 100k subscribers, is known in the community to speak his mind and not care about any of the repercussions. But holy shit he’s _terrified_ of what he could do to himself if he went after The Ghoul Guys.

Not that he would though. Ignoring his whole “In Love With Johnny Seo” thing, they’re likeable people. And they have a track record of encouraging the local businesses of the places they visit. They favour local catering for their shoots, they hire local film staff if necessary, hell, they donate to any ongoing drive in the city they’re in. There’s _so_ many businesses that could benefit from that, Donghyuck’s family liquor store included. And that’s just the initial filming. If they get a good enough episode out of it, then the potential tourism scene could explode.

Wait. Fuck. Now Donghyuck’s considering it. He’s genuinely thinking that Chenle’s got a semi-decent idea, and Chenle is all too aware. His pouty expression has melted into a smug smirk, one Donghyuck is not afraid to throttle off of him, but he relents. He’s still not completely sold yet.

“What about my mom.” He says, picking at his fries. “She’ll _never_ agree to something like this.”

Chenle deflates just slightly. “Ask?” He suggests. “You _are_ set to inherit it, and you’re legal too. It’s not like she can hide it from you forever, you’re bound to see it sooner or later.”

Jeno snorts. “Since when were you so persuasive.” He teases. Chenle squawks, throwing a balled up napkin at him. 

Donghyuck ignores them. Chenle’s not _wrong._ Donghyuck is set to inherit their properties; the store, the house and the business. Taeyong’s off at Juliard doing dance on a full ride, so there’s no way he would come back for any of that. Besides, Donghyuck’s never really wanted to go to university anyways. It’s the only reason he’s still hanging around town after graduating, he has no real reason to leave. He’s more than happy to handle the family business while his parents travel and take the break they deserve. 

But for someone slated to inherit a three-acre property, Donghyuck knows like. Nothing about it. It’s something that’s always been curious, but it’s never outright bugged him. But that’s kinda just how Chenle is. Taeyong calls it the real estate agent voice. Chenle just kinda always talks like he’s trying to sell you a house that he knows is outside your budget, but one you’re gonna buy anyways.

“Hey.” Donghyuck looks up, Chenle looking at him expectantly. “You can always get more details from the phone call tonight. I’m sure whoever’s talking to you would be happy to give you more details.”

Donghyuck closes his eyes and bows his head. Chenle’s got him. He’s been fucking got. He’s still going to kill Chenle later, he’s obliged to at this point, but some part of Donghyuck just already knows that he’s going to be leading a ghost hunting show around his abandoned property, one way or another.

But Donghyuck refuses to properly give in just yet. Instead, all he says is “maybe if you buy me a milkshake I’ll consider it.” It makes Jeno snort and Chenle shriek and they’re chucking food and straws at each other until poor Dickley has to kick them out for being public disturbances.

The phone call is a later problem. Donghyuck’s not gonna worry about that for right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. As far as I'm aware, Fishstick, Illinois is not a real place. If it is, I'm so sorry. 
> 
> 2\. Donghyuck's got this kinda goth dream boy aesthetic going on. He wears eyeliner and has piercings and almost exclusively all black but his image is kinda ruined when he opens his mouth and reveals himself to Shit Lord Extraordinaire
> 
> 3\. If it wasn't clear, Donghyuck and Jeno are 18 and have graduated! They're just chilling at home though, cause neither of them are in uni. Chenle is in his senior year, and he Hates it.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I've spent so much time planning this out I'm so excited to get this started!
> 
> See you next time!  
> ❥ Shibe (12:08, 01/22/19)

**Author's Note:**

> twitter


End file.
